Pack Expo Las Vegas 2011: Automation products target machine builders

Automation and controls introduced and discussed at Pack Expo Las Vegas 2011 last week aimed to help machine builders optimize designs, become more energy efficient, and improve safety. A sampling follows with more to come.

10/03/2011

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Automation and controls introduced and discussed at Pack Expo Las Vegas 2011 last week aimed to help machine builders optimize designs, become more energy efficient, and improve safety. A sampling follows with links below.

ABB Robotics showed many systems for processing, packaging and palletizing, including high-speed pick-and-place system with IRB 360 FlexPicker and PickMaster 3 software, using vision in conjunction with the software to pick randomly placed objects and orient them.

Bosch Rexroth Corporation, the Drive & Control Company, focused on innovations in mechatronics and products that can help packaging machine builders and system integrators engineer more efficiently with open system solutions. These include IndraMotion for Packaging Controls, IndraDrive Mi with Multi-Ethernet, corrosion-resistant with FDA-certified materials – ball rail materials for wash-down environments, and productive pneumatic solutions for the food and packaging industry.

B&R Industrial Automation demonstrated a six-servo, delta-robot that slowed to a low-risk speed for setup or maintenance, using fieldbus-independent openSafety protocol. The company offers the Acoposinverter P84 with an integrated Powerlink interface from 0.37 to 500 kW; Ethernet Powerlink is widely used for hard-real-time motion applications; B&R's new Powerlink X67 bus controller with IP67 protection; and thermoformer machine uses one industrial touchscreen PC as an HMI and for machine control. In addition, B&R sponsored student activities at Pack Expo to introduce bright young minds to packaging and machine builders and end-users to a new talent pool.

Cerulean's Q-Test integrated sensors, control, and logic to create what it says is the first fully automated tube testing system for laminate and plastic tubes.

Molex, with its Brad automation product lines, offered packaging OEMs, system integrators, and end users a wide range of connectivity, communications, control, and power solutions. The company said it offers an extensive range of industrial network protocol options designed for the advanced-manufacturing needs in the packaging industry, including industrial Ethernet.

ProSoft Technology expanded its offerings with WRC DeviceNet products. In a recent agreement with Western Reserve Controls (WRC), ProSoft Technology will assume exclusive sales rights and support services for all WRC DeviceNet communication products, including DeviceNet protocol gateways and network extenders/repeaters for DeviceNet, SDS (Smart Distributed System), J1939, CAN-open, and other CAN, V2.0, Part A or Part B serial bus systems.

Rittal’s Mobile Design Center, a 36-ft bus full of 5,000 lb of Rittal technologies, was parked inside the Pack Expo booth. Among latest offering is the Rittal Comfort Panel, engineered to accommodate the latest generation of HMI operator panels with a slim-line design to match the Rittal support arm systems.

Siemens built Profinet IRT into its hardware, ensuring that 36 axes of servo drives would continue to operate reliably despite network overloading by local video-based application, as the demo showed. Separately, Optimized Packaging Line (OPL) offers easier HMI setup and support for tag-naming. Also Siemens expanded Sinamics S120 drive system to include Ethernet connectivity to Profinet, Ethernet TCP/IP, and EtherNet/IP, upgraded its Simotion Scout motion control software, and extended the upper performance range of Simotion D motion controllers to support 128 axes of motion. Read more about Sinamics, Simotion Scout, and Simotion D enhancements.

See more details and offerings below. Additional coverage and details will be added soon.